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‘Met Dept lacks capacity to tell intensity of cyclones’

22 Mar, 2019 - 00:03 0 Views
‘Met Dept lacks capacity to tell intensity of cyclones’ Mr George Charamba

The ManicaPost

Ray Bande  Senior Reporter
THE nation was not adequately informed beforehand on the possible extent of damage that Cyclone Idai would cause in communities around the country, Deputy Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet Responsible for Presidential Communications Mr George Charamba has said.

In a special current affairs programme on Cyclone Idai with Diamond FM yesterday in Mutare, Mr Charamba said the problem with our Meteorological Department is that they are only capable of telling the nation that there will be rains or that there shall be a cyclone but cannot tell the effects of the weather conditions in advance.

“They cannot tell us whether this will affect crops, livestock or whether it will affect human beings. They do not have the capacity to inform us about the intensity of the damage in terms of the potential damage it poses before it strikes.

“We have the Civil Protection Department but when it was put up it was meant for droughts, floods and other common disasters that we have experienced before. They were not prepared for this kind of disaster we face,” said Mr Charamba.

He said bodies that were swept to Mozambique would be repatriated with the help of authorities in the neighbouring country.

“As we were in Chimanimani we heard very painful reports of people who are still trapped under rocks while others are still buried in mud. There are also other bodies that were swept away to Mozambique going into the sea. Because of the good relationship that we have with Mozambicans they collected the bodies.

“The President actually gave an instruction to Commander Defence Forces that all those bodies be repatriated and be accorded a decent burial back home,” he said.

Mr Charamba said the Government would soon roll out a massive rural housing programme aimed at improving durability and decency of accommodation for people in rural areas.

“When I came here I passed through Bikita. When I was at Nyika, I was told to go and see what I can call silent cyclone at Silveira Mission. I went there and I saw some buildings that had collapsed. The thing is that we are not using proper durable material when constructing our houses. We are not using strong burnt bricks so whenever there are heavy rains the structures collapse.

“We are using soil taken from anthills and not cement. The house becomes a death trap for the family. We are not placing the black sheet to prevent moist from rising within the wall. The roofing itself is also problematic. Some people are building houses with sunken roof maybe copying from the South African models.

“The problem is that when we get heavy rains the sunken roof becomes a pool and coupled with moist rising from the ground as well as rains that hit the walls the structure is likely to collapse. This is why the President said there is need to revisit the housing policy particularly in respect to rural areas. In fact, Government will soon roll out a comprehensive rural housing policy aimed at addressing that anomaly. We may have families providing bricks while Government chips in with cement,” he said.

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